Grace to you and peace from our loving God, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

This morning, we continue to deal with chapter seven of Mark's gospel. Last Sunday, we heard most of the first half. Today, we are treated to the remainder.

I'd like you to see the two as intimately connected. What we discussed very briefly last Sunday forms the immediate context for what we have before us. And, no doubt, some of you will need a reminder. Here it is:

Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile." (14-15)

Now you know where I got the title for this sermon: "What comes out?"

It's my proposal to you that the stories in today's reading stand as commentary by Mark and Jesus on this matter of what defiles. The stories before us tell us about how people behave when they are not hypocrites—the accusation leveled at Jesus' hearers last week. The stories portray for us what God hopes will come out of us when we rest in the grace of God. The stories show us the things that, rather than defiling, cleanse, heal, and make right. And Jesus is the foil.

So. What comes out? We begin with the Syrophoenician woman:

...a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about [Jesus], and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter." So she went home, found the child lying on the ground, and the demon gone.

The first things that come out-and are therefore touted by Mark as righteous—are boldness, questioning, and appeal on behalf of another or intercession. What a great story!

This woman has enough moxie for three people! Can you imagine going up to Jesus at a time when he was looking to get some distance from people—can you imagine interrupting the Lord—and then coming back at him when he refuses you? This is, in itself, nothing short of miraculous.

And yet, it is the speaking of truth. Perhaps in his tired state, Jesus is forgetful and focused on his needs more than on those of others. He finds a way to put this woman off, and in none too gentle a fashion.

This part of the story seems a bit shocking, apparently portraying Jesus mouthing prejudice: "Let the children first be fed, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs" (7:27). Following the interchange, Jesus abandons this initial stance in favor of compassion and inclusion. It's one of the more remarkable stories of Mark—casting Jesus, as it does, in a negative light.

Some interpreters of scripture try to rescue Jesus from apparent rudeness here by suggesting it's all a bit "tongue in cheek" or due to his sense of mission to the Jews rather than the Gentiles. But dogs are still dogs. The image is demeaning.

Mark certainly has no compunction about portraying Jesus as saying what many would have said: God's children are the people of Israel; Gentiles are like the dogs. Whether in the story or in reality, the good news is that Jesus refuses to remain bound by such distinctions. He crosses the boundary. And a woman from the coastal regions of Palestine, a Gentile, persuades him.

This is one of those stories of scripture that must have made its ancient hearers sit up and take notice. The woman here is truly extraordinary. Her words and actions say much about women and their important role in the church, even in an era that looked upon them as nearly worthless, except as property. It is not only the Jew-Gentile boundary that gets crossed here; it is also the gender barriers of the time.

What comes out here is a story that illustrates both the righteousness of courageous confrontation and questioning, and the new inclusiveness of the gospel. Faced with human need, Jesus is persuaded that people matter most. No one can be excluded. All must be given food. None can be treated like dogs.

But then there are folks even in our time who are treated like dogs. There are those who know what it's like to be shut out, told to wait, given second best. Calling them cute puppies (as some translate this word in the text) or "the blessed poor" doesn't address the issue, so long as they're treated as less than fully human. The Syrophoenician woman gives them a voice.

Jesus listens to that voice. We can still hear it. We might even hear it in the controversial actions of our church at the recent national assembly, trying, as faithfully as those present were able, to challenge this church to cross other boundaries of historic exclusion.

Symbolically, this woman stands for the Gentile world that so eagerly seized on the bread of heaven, while others rejected it. She stands, too, for all who have been denied crumbs because others have been granted some special privilege. She is feisty, determined, and desperate. She will not be turned aside. She takes Jesus' demeaning words, tosses them back on behalf of her daughter, and dares to believe that the kingdom of God had come near even to her and her family.

Whether this woman passes a test offered by our Lord or she opens Jesus' eyes is not clear. What is apparent is that she receives far more than crumbs. Jesus makes certain that everyone understands—no matter how unlikely it is—that she (a Gentile and a woman who neither knew her place nor how to hold her tongue) is undeniably part of God's reign and rule.

This is true for every person who hears this story and believes the same for themselves. For those who are righteous, who stand alongside the truth, what comes out is the boldness of conviction, questioning, faith, and a dedication to justice. This woman, unclean and outcast, has much to teach.

So does the next character we meet in Mark's gospel:

Then [Jesus] returned... They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his finger into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha." that is, "Be opened." And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

The ones who bring this deaf and dumb man to Jesus are also bold to ask from Jesus what the man is not able to ask for himself. Intercession again. And action. Yes, they pray for him, but they also bring him physically to the one who can help. Prayer and action are intimately linked.

And again, there is defiance. Jesus tells them to keep quiet, but they do the opposite. And so again in this gospel, it is the Gentiles who are bold to proclaim the good news, as a consequence of defiant questioning and intercession.

One of my doctoral professors, Clark Williamson, writes: "Radical trust in God's gracious love not only permits, but requires, questioning; it evokes an audacious faith...Abraham both obeyed God in the matter of the binding of Isaac and confronted God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah in defense of the stranger (Gen. 22 and 18:16-33). Jacob wrestles with the stranger (Gen. 32:22-32) and is named "Israel."...Unlike his orthodox friends, Job continually grills God, who says to Job's orthodox friends: "You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has" (Job 42:7).

Rabbi Irving Greenberg develops this into a norm for contemporary theology and religion in the midst of humanity's death-dealing ways: "Nothing dare evoke our absolute, unquestioning loyalties."...Unquestioning obedience is not morally desirable; it is not asked of us and should not be given. Biblically, only an idol cannot stand up to questioning. Only idols refuse to be questioned. God invites questioning.

Jesus tells a parable about how to pray by describing a man who not only had the gall to go to a neighbor at midnight and ask for three loaves of bread, but perseveres in bothering him until the neighbor yields and gives him the bread. The request is met "because of his persistence" (Lk. 11:5-13). That's the attitude we are called to use in prayer. Jesus makes the same point in the parable about the unjust judge and the nagging widow whose continued pestering wear him down until he does the right thing (Lk. 18:1-6). (Williamson, Clark M., "Way of Blessing, Way of Life", 1999, 26-27).

What cannot be questioned is an idol. It is often said, and celebrated in story, that the truest devotee of democracy—the greatest patriot—is the one who protests.

We might well say the same about the Christian. The most faithful Christian—the most trusting, honest, seeker of the truth in word and action—is the one who assertively questions, boldly, probingly, prayerfully, in order to know and to do the will of God.

The clear witness of the characters in our text calls us to give up any faith that prevents question and challenge. We ought to stay as far as possible from those who tell us the truth without respecting and honoring doubt. It is only the false prophet who calls us to believe them without question. For we dally in such contexts with idolatry. And we risk, as do so many who want the easy and fast answer, our very souls.

Mark provides us wise counsel about what comes out of the Christian. Be bold. Question. Criticize. Probe. Intercede. Seek. Put up with no illness of soul or body. Endure willingly no injustice. Challenge authority. Trust alone in God. These are the marks of a vital faith and a dedicated disciple of Jesus. These are what we encourage in our programs of Christian education and when we invite action on behalf of those who are poor or in need. These are signposts on the path that leads away from idolatry and towards the God of truth, grace, love, peace, and justice.

A story is told about the rabbi whose students asked him: "Why does a rabbi always answer a question with a question?" Responded the rabbi: "So, what's wrong with a question?" Amen.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord unto eternal life. Amen.